Fiend of Possession
Art done by Copperheart from Deviantart
Requirements
Race: Outsider Type, Evil Subtype*
Alignment: Any Evil*
Base Save Bonus: Will +5
Skills: Hide 6 ranks, Knowledge (arcana) 6 ranks
Special: Has to of caused some form of misfortune, havoc, or tragedy such as poisoning a city’s water source, stealing a precious item and framing someone innocent for the act, causing the disbandment of an organization at least 20 years old, etc for the sake of doing it and get away with it. DM decides if certain actions qualify.
* If the character has the Evil Subtype, they do not have to meet the alignment requirement, and if they have the Evil alignment they don’t have to meet the subtype requirement.
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This was a PrC that by design was only meant to be a class a DM could slap onto a BBEG to throw at the players. I changed the Race requirement, largely because even with the vast amount of Homebrew I have looked over for some time now, there is actually little material to actually help meet these requirements short of playing a ‘monster race’ that starts with these for a bit of a HD/LA hit or the Otherworldly feat for Outsider from a Faerun supplement, and the Alignment Ritual in Savage Species. The feat is the easier part of the two assuming your DM is okay with Faerun content in a non-Faerun campaign and if your able to swing it working on races outside of the original printing’s list. The Ritual is a bit harder as it costs enough gold and exp that anyone under lvl 15 will be hard pressed to take it, and technically Savage Species is 3.0 printing.
So instead, they have to gain the Outsider type at the very least but don’t have to necessarily meet the Evil subtype. Instead, they can just have an Evil Alignment to fulfill that little bit of evilness.
The Save and Skills requirements are the same because they weren’t very hard to obtain compared to the race requirement.
Finally I added a special requirement in many ways similar to the Assassin’s “killing someone for the lolz”, save that you have to cause some form of incident. Obviously the three I used for examples are not the only evil things they could do, so a DM could decide if the act was evil enough, tragic enough, and if the character got away.
Adding all these requirements together, this makes it so that not only can characters that are not demonic/devilish can get in easier but so this isn’t a DM only class.
Class Skills
4+Int Mod
Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Disguise, Hide, Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Spot, Use Magic Device
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Left the Skills somewhat the same. By adding Concentration and Use Magic Device skills the number of skill points per level has increased from 2+Int to 4+Int. The addition of Concentration and Use Magic Device is for those magic users that get into the class with the helping fact that my version progresses spellcasting classes.
There are just some times when you’re possessing something like a wand or a person that you just want to be able to use yourself/the wand.
….
Why does that sound so wrong?
Hit Die: d6
{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special|Spells
1st|+0
|+2
|+2
|+2
|Ethereal Form, Hide Presence, Possess Object|
2nd|+1
|+3
|+3
|+3
|Curse, Magic Item|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
3rd|+1
|+3
|+3
|+3
|Control Object|
4th|+2
|+4
|+4
|+4
|Animate Object, Possess Creature|+1 level of existing spellcasting class
5th|+2
|+4
|+4
|+4
|Ally or Enemy, Possess Noncontinuous Object|
6th|+3
|+5
|+5
|+5
|Control Creature|+1 level of existing spellcasting class [/table]
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Now this I wasn’t exactly sure if it was a good idea, but I added in the Spellcasting class advancement since more often then not it seemed this class should have had a spellcasting progression, or at the very least a separate spell list much like the Assassin PrC.
I chose only 1/2 progression because any more and this rewrite would make it much too good compared to the original.
This might be changed if someone can give me a better idea, or the majority believes that it should go outright.
I also decided to keep it at a 6 lvl progression like the original mostly because any more then that and you would be getting into some Epic-like abilities such as possessing weapons and upping their enhancement bonus sky high. I do plan on trying my hand at a Epic progression of this class, so that also helped me in my decision on the number of levels it will have.
Notice that I didn't add or take away any abilities. I did this mostly because in my opinion it wasn't so much that it had too many/not enough abilities but rather they needed rewording which is exactly what I did. Or at least tried to do in any case.
Class Features
Saving throws against a fiend of possession's supernatural abilities have a DC of 10+fiend of possession's class level+Cha modifier, unless noted otherwise
Weapon and Armor Proficiency:
Gain no proficiency with any weapons, armor, or shields.
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Same as before, really nothing to change since more often then not your just a rider rather then the driver of a body you’ve possessed.
Ethereal Form (Su):
At will, a fiend of possession can become ethereal, as though using the etherealness spell [only targeting themselves for possible targets] as cast by a sorcerer of the fiend's total Hit Dice, ECL or its sorcerer caster level (when using its spell-like abilities) plus its fiend of possession level, whichever is higher. The creature’s new form is ethereal and thus immune to even the most potent physical attacks and most magical attacks (except, for example, force attacks) by non-ethereal creatures. When a fiend possesses a creature or object, even force effects no longer affect the fiend. Only spells such as dismissal can affect the possessing fiend when cast by non-ethereal creatures. Any sort of attack, magical or otherwise, directed against the fiend affects the possessed creature or object, however.
Possessing an object or creature effectively ends a use of this ability, so time spent in another body or object does not count against the duration of this ability. While in ethereal form or while possessing an item or creature all your held, carried, or worn gear the fiend has becomes nonfuntional until they return to their normal form.
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I decided that the original text needed some clarification on what its etherealness actually does, largely by diving into other books that gave rules for possessing demons such as Fiend Folio, Book of Vile Darkness, Defenders of the Faith, and Complete Divine. By large, this just states how being ethereal makes a fiend’s life easier when trying to find someplace to call home sweet home.
Also noticed while shifting through some forums across the ‘net there was some confusion as to whether a fiend can use its items while possessing something or even while in ethereal form. Hopefully by adding that last sentence that will clear things up.
Hide Presence (Ex):
A fiend in possession of an object or creature can attempt to hide its presence by making a special Hide check. This "mental" Hide check uses the fiend's Int modifier instead of its Dex modifier, and modifiers such as being invisible, a size modifier from being Small or smaller, Large or bigger, cover, etc aren’t added to the check as mental hiding isn’t affected by physical hiding modifiers. A successful check allows a fiend of possession to avoid virtually anything that would betray its presence in the possessed creature or object: it can pass through a magic circle against evil, enter a temple warded by forbiddance, escape detection via detect evil or elude mind reading effects like detect thoughts and the Mindsight feat. The DC for this Hide check is the same as the saving throw DC for the spell the fiend is trying to avoid or and opposing ‘Spot’ check vs the Mindsight feat where the creature trying to find the fiend uses only their mental stat as a bonus. The fiend gains a +4 circumstance bonus on this check if it is not controlling the possessed creature or object at the time of the check.
When possessing a creature, a fiend of possession can make this Hide check to protect the possessed creature from the full effects of alignment-based spells such as holy smite. If the fiend makes a successful Hide check (against the save DC of the spell), the possessed creature takes damage appropriate to its actual alignment, but if the fiend fails the Hide check, the possessed creature is affected as if it were the fiend.
Making this check is not an action; the fiend can do it in response to another creature's action (such as casting detect evil).
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Nothing really to change here, the hiding mechanic was solid in my opinion. Only had to change the fact that despite you possessing an item or a person, you still would have a Int/Wis/Cha stat that can be detected through other means such as Detect thoughts and the Mindsight feat. The Mindsight was the hardest bit, since many people argue whether even Mindblank protects you from that broken feat. So, in an attempt to make it so that it at least doesn’t automatically spot the Fiend, the Mindsight user has to make a Spot check vs the Hide check the Fiend can make with only the +4 circumstance bonus to help since invisibility, size and cover doesn’t help while in an item or a creature.
Possess Object (Su):
A fiend of possession in ethereal form can possess an object on the Material Plane or whatever physical object found on any other plane such as rocks in the Earth Elemental plane. The object must be at least Tiny and no larger than Huge. Magic items and attended items receive Will saving throws. Unattended nonmagical items are automatically possessed.
A fiend of possession takes up residency inside of the object it possesses, much like a parasite to a creature so it is no longer ethereal. The fiend is aware of what is going on around the object: It can see and hear up to 60 feet away as if using its normal sense (it does not gain blind sight). In any round in which it takes no other actions (such as using a spell-like ability), it extends its senses to twice its normal range (120 feet).
The fiend is vulnerable to spells that specifically affect outsiders or creatures of the fiend's alignment (such as holy word and holy smite, as well as chaos hammer or order's wrath) and mind-affecting spells or effects, but it is unaffected by physical attacks or standard magical effects (such as fireball) unless it specifically affects objects (such as shatter). If harming the object causes it to be destroyed; the fiend is forced back into its ethereal form for however long the duration remains of the last use of Ethereal Form ability.
While possessing an object, a fiend of possession can use any ability it has that requires no physical action, such as using a spell-like ability (but not invocations unless they don’t possess somatic or other components that a normal body could easily supply) or telepathy. It cannot cast spells (since it can neither speak nor move unless they have the Silent and or Still metamagic feats or like abilities), attack physically or perform any other physical action, until it reaches a high enough level to make the possessed object perform these tasks for it.
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Just some clarifications such as adding the newer mechanic of invocations, and the original never mentioned the use of Silent and Still metamagic feats, or the ability to cast spells without the need of verbal or somatic components like a Sharn from FR: Anauroch The Empire of Shade. Not to mention that being only able to possess objects on the Material plane when there is a chance you could be planes-hopping helps you not loose your usefulness while on Planes with physical objects.
Curse (Su):
At 2nd level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to make a possessed item radiate a corrupt and befouling nature. Anyone besides the fiend of possession that touches or is touching the object must make a Will save or fall under the effect of a bestow curse spell. The affected creature does not know that the curse came from the item, and in fact might not know right away that he or she is affected by the curse. Nothing about the object’s appearance suggests that it is possessed (although there might be residual evil effects, as described in the Lingering Evil section as explained in books like Book of Vile Deeds). The curse lasts until removed with break enchantment, limited wish, miracle, remove curse, or wish, even if the fiend vacates the possessed object.
A particularly crafty fiend might possess a small fountain, affecting anyone who touches or drinks the water. Similarly, a fiend could corrupt a patch of ground, affecting anyone who walks over it.
At 6th level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to substitute the ability to place a bestow curse spell for bestow greater curse spell instead. A greater curse cannot be dispelled, nor can it can be removed with break enchantment or limited wish. A miracle or wish spell removes a greater curse.
Various example greater/curses are detailed in books such as the Players Handbook, Spell Compendium, and the Book of Vile Darkness. Some Fiends think of other curses besides these examples (check with Dm if allowed)
Alternate Uses of Bestow Curse
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Players Handbook
- –6 decrease to an ability score (minimum 1).
- –4 penalty on attack rolls, saves, ability checks, and skill checks.
- Each turn, the target has a 50% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action.
Book of Vile Darkness
- Target is rendered sterile.
- The next person introduced to the target for the first time will hate him or her uncontrollably forever. Even if this curse is removed, the person still hates the victim of the curse, but the victim can improve the person’s attitude normally after the curse is gone.
- Each time the target attempts to help a friend or ally, there is a 50% chance the attempt fails and causes the ally to fail at the task.
- Target is struck blind and deaf.
- Each round in combat, there is a 25% chance that the target will attack the nearest creature rather than choosing an opponent normally.
- Every time the victim makes a d20 roll, a roll of 20 counts as a 1.
- The victim effectively ages, moving him or her to the beginning of the next age category. See Chapter 6 of the Player’s Handbook for the effects of aging.
- At some point within the next week (or whenever it is feasible), thieves are able to steal all monetary wealth the victim has.
- Animals refuse to be within 5 feet of the target and do not respond to the target’s commands or requests.
- Each time the target meets someone for the first time, there is a 50% chance that the new person will confuse the target with a hated enemy, a well-known criminal, or a raving lunatic.
- All creatures of a specific kind (such as orcs, owlbears, or black dragons) are permanently invisible to the sight of the victim (invisibility purge does not help, but see invisibility and true seeing do). The spellcaster chooses the kind of creature.
Dragon Magazine #348
- Target takes -8 penalty on all checks made using one skill, such as Climb or Spellcraft.
- The target's Str score counts as 10 less (minimum 1) for the purposes of carrrying capacity. This might cause some individuals to suddenly take encumbrance penalties while others collapse under the weight of their own gear.
- The target's armor falls into disrepair, halving its hit points and hardness while decreasing the armor bonus it grants by -4 (minimum of 1) and doubling the armor check penalty. This effect shifts to any new armor donned, while the armor removed returns to normal (although any damage it might have taken remains)
- The target must carry something designated by the caster or suffer a -5 penalty on all saves. The item can be vague (such as a holy symbol of Vecna) or specific (such as the Helm of King Aramil), but it cannot be something dangerous or deadly for the target to carry (a massive boulder or burning coals). The caster must give the object when casting the spell.
- One of the target's limbs ceases to function. A nonfunctional arm cannot hold or wield any item and cannot be used to perform somatic spell components, while a nonfunctional leg prevents the target from walking properly without a crutch (and even then the target can only move at half speed). A nonfunctional wing prevents the target from flying if it uses wings to fly.
- The target loses all weapon and armor proficiencies, other than simple weapons, natural weapons, and unarmored strikes. If the target has feats for which the lost proficiencies are prerequisites (such as Weapon Focus), he loses the use of these as well.
- The target becomes completely socially inept. He takes -6 penalties on Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, and Sense Motive Checks, on Cha checks to influence someone, and on Disguise checks when attempting to act as someone else.
- The target's armor, shield, or one of his weapons (caster's choice) becomes cursed. Its enhancement bonus is reversed and it loses any other special abilities, so a +4 flaming longsword becomes a -4 longsword. If nonmagical, the weapon, shield, or armor instead becomes a -1 weapon, shield or armor.
- The target is stricken with cowardice. Each time the character rolls for initiative, he must immediately make a will save (with the same DC as the curse) or become shaken for the duration of the combat. The first time the character takes damage in the combat, he must save again or become shaken for 1d4 rounds (if already shaken, instead treat as panicked for 1d4 rounds)
- The target appears to be a different alignment (caster's choice) for the purpose of divination spells and spell-like abilities such as detect evil.
- The target's damage reduction, spell resistance, or elemental resistance of one type is reduced by 5, to a minimum of 0.
- The target immediately becomes fatigued until he has consumed 1 pint of blood. THereafter, he gains a thirst for blood and normal food and drink no longer nourish him. He awakens fatigued each morning and must drink 1 pint of blood to stave off this fatigue for the day.
- Everyone who knows the target no longer recognizes him, except for the caster. Even the target's allies do not recognize him and those who come to know him again forget knowing him each morning.
- The target gains a susceptibility to damage from a certain source (caster's choice). All damage taken from this source is increased by 5 points. The source must be either a specific element, such as fire, or weapons made of a specified uncommon material such as mithral, silver, or bone.
- The target loses the ability to heal naturally (although he does not lose innate healing abilities such as fast healing or regeneration). In addition, spells of the conjuration (healing) subschool only heal the target for half as much as normal. Such spells that cause damage are unaffected by this curse. For example, a cure light wounds spell cast upon a undead creature is unaffected, while an inflict light wounds spell cast on the same creature would be halved.
- The target's sight is reduced to 20ft, even with natural abilities and spells such as darkvision.
- The target must roll a Fort save (DC as curse) each time he commits an evil or illegal act to avoid becoming nauseated for 2d4 rounds. Alternatively, the caster may use this curse to affect those commiting acts of kindness and generosity.
- The target loses the use of one of his feats. If this feat is a prerequisite for other feats, the target loses the use of those feats as well.
- One of the target's minor racial abilities is disabled. Minor abilities include darkvision, low-light vision, racial save bonuses, racial skill bonuses, racial weapon proficiency or familiarity, or stability. The Dm has the final word as to what other racial abilities qualify as minor.
- The target immediately becomes fatigued, and henceforth requires 12 hours of sleep each time he rests or else is fatigued for the remainder of the day.
- The target becomes a disease carrier. Anyone the target touches or who touches the target must roll a DC 16 Fort save or else contract blinding sickness or cackle fever. The target is immune to the selected disease.
- The target has uncontrollable shakes, imposing a -4 penalty on ranged attacks and 20% spell failure chance for spells with somatic components.
- The target becomes unable to tell a lie. He may, however, choose to avoid answering a question in order to avoid telling the truth.
- The target fear killing and must attempt to deal nonlethal damage whenever possible, taking a penalty of -4 on attack rolls with most weapons to do so.
Alternate Uses of Bestow Greater Curse
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Spell Compendium
- One ability score is reduced to 1, or two ability scores take –6 penalties (to a minimum score of 1).
- –8 penalty on attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks, and skill checks.
- Each turn, the subject has a 25% chance to act normally; otherwise, it takes no action.
Book of Vile Darkness
- A random friend or family member of the target contracts a disease. If the disease is magically cured or runs its course (regardless of the outcome), another loved one contracts a new disease.
- The target’s most powerful and/or cherished item falls apart, becoming forever useless.
- Valuable metals (such as platinum, gold, silver, and copper) turn to lead in the target’s possession, even if they are in a bag of holding or stored away from the target. The target’s touch transmutes valuable metals (including coins) into lead as well.
- 1d4+1 of the target’s loved ones or allies are affected by a curse chosen from the bestow curse list above.
- All of the target’s loved ones and allies suddenly despise him and are considered to have unfriendly attitudes. See NPC Attitudes in Chapter 5 of the DUNGEON MASTER’s Guide for actions former allies might take.
- The target cannot cast spells, use spell-like abilities, or activate spell completion or spell trigger items.
Dragon Magazine #348
- The target loses a class ability, such as spellcasting, sneak attack damage, or barbarian rage. If this class ability is a prerequiste for other abilites or feats, the target loses the use of those feats as well.
- The target gains a susceptibility to one energy type (such as fire or electricity) or to weapons made of a specified rare or unusual material (such as adamantine or silver) of the caster's choice. The target takes an additional +50% extra damage from this source. This effect does not stack with any other weaknesses the target might already possess.
- The target's alignment gradually moves toward another of the caster's choice. For example, a lawful good paladin might be cursed to become Chaotic Evil, losing access to all of his paladin spells and abilities. There is no immediate effect, but the target must make a Will save each day thereafter or his alignment shifts one step toward the chosen alignment.
- The target takes damage equal to the damage he deals to others. Only damage dealt with weapon is affected, not ability damage or spell effects.
- One of the target's attack options is lost (such as a dragon's breath weapon or a medusa's petrifying gaze attack.)
- The target can no longer sleep soundly, perhaps wracked by nightmares or guilt over past evil deeds (caster's choice). He wakes fatigued each morning and cannot perform tasks that require him to be well-rested, such as a wizard preparing spells.
- The target's most powerful or cherished possession (DM's discretion) is drawn by fate to fall into the hands of a hated enemy or rival.
- The target is completely unable to use any three skills of the caster's choosing. Knowledge skills must be chosen separately.
- Everyone the target sees appears to be undead, their flesh rotting from their bones and their voices reduced to hollow rasps.
- All critical threats made against the target automatically confirm without requiring the attacker to reroll.
- A noisy spirit haunts the target. Aside from unnerving those around the target, the spirit prevents him from using the Hide or Move Silently abilities, becoming invisible, disguising himself, or otherwise altering his appearance. A manifestation of the curse, the spirit is not actually undead and cannot be turned, rebuked, or destroyed.
- All new creatures and NPC's the target encounters treat him with an initial attitude of hostile. Allies and current acquaintances do not change their attitudes toward the target.
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Personally, I really liked this ability in the original. But sadly it was very limited in uses. Basically it was a very early and rough version of an invocation for Bestow Curse, and with some of the examples given in at least the BoVD a fiend could cause some havoc amongst the peasants of a village. So taking the ability, I decided that giving it an upgrade by the final level would be appropriate as to better utilize a class feature that most ‘guides’ for using the FoP never mention. Of course one has to get the Dm’s approval to use certain curses [insta age one age category being one I love just for its evilness].
Magic Item (Su):
Also at 2nd level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to make a possessed weapon or armor function as a magic item. The fiend can bestow powers on the item with a value as an enhancement bonus of up to its total fiend of possession class level, so a 3rd-level fiend of possession could make a sword a +3 weapon, a +2 keen weapon, or a +1 wounding weapon, for example. If the possessed is already magical, the fiend can increase the powers on the item by the same amount - so a 5th level fiend of possession could turn a +1 sword into a +1 vorpal sword, for example. The enchantment bonus on items possessed is limited to a maximum of +10, until the fiend progresses into the Epic levels. The total fiend of possession class level cannot be elevated by classes that ‘advances’ a class’s abilities such as through Racial Paragons, and the Legacy Champion.
Despite the fiend’s duplication of magic item abilities, a nonmagical possessed item doesn’t become actually magical. Detect magic will not sense an aura; detect evil or other detect ‘alignment’ corresponding to the fiend’s alignment will, however. Smart characters might notice that the possessed item behaves strangely or has an unusual appearance (a magic weapon that isn’t masterwork quality, for example, is a tipoff that something is awry). A character who succeeds at a Search check (DC 25) notes that there is “something strange” about the item.
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Decided that I had to throw in the clause about how taking levels in PrC like Legacy Champion doesn’t get you a effective FoP of 10 or more, along with not being able to give a Vorpal sword some insane enhancement bonus greater then non-Epic weapons can achieve. Yes this gimps it, but I also will have a Epic Progression in the works so that at least you can do so semi-legally.
Also threw in some text found in other sources like the BoVD that describes possessing fiends to further clarify that the abilities are not making a nonmagical item magical.
Control Object (Su):
When possessing an object with some inherent mobility, a fiend of possession of at least 3rd level can control the object's movement. The fiend can cause a vehicle or similar object to move at a speed up to the fiend's own land speed in its corporeal form. Other moving parts - such as a clock's hands or a crossbow's firing mechanism - are under the fiend's control. Thus, a fiend could make a wagon steer toward a pedestrian, or roll out of a stable without a horse to pull it. Cocking a crossbow and firing it is more then within its power, but it can't aim or load itself using this ability. Exerting control is itself a free action, though actually moving an object requires a move action.
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Nothing to change here, not many people even think of this ability when thinking of the class, so its not exactly something that needs to be fixed.
Edit: Edited the Cocking sentence because of censor not enjoying the original text of
Quote:
It could make a crossbow **** and fire (but not aim or load itself). Exerting control is itself a free action, though actually moving an object requires a move action.
Animate Object (Su):
At 4th level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to force an object with no inherent moving parts to animate, effectively animating it as with the animate objects spell. This version of animate objects isn’t limited to just nonmagical items as the spell describes, but unattended magical items receive a Will saving throw as if the spell grants one. It still cannot be used on attended items being carried or worn by creatures, magical or not. See the description of animated objects in the Monster Manual. At this level, a fiend of possession can also possess (and animate) Gargantuan objects.
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I wanted to clarify that animate objects states you can’t possess and animate magical items, which by my understanding means that magical sword or suit of armor are a no-no, but a golem that is infused with magic is okay since it’s a ‘creature’. So now if your hard pressed to find that suitable body to possess while adventuring you can just as easily animate that magic sword as the non-magical sword on the ground.
Possess Creature (Su):
At 4th level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to possess a creature as well as objects. The fiend must be in ethereal form and adjacent to its target, and must use a standard action to attempt possession. A protection from evil spell or similar magic wards a creature against being possessed in this manner. An unprotected target must make a Will saving throw. Evil creatures take a -2 penalty on this saving throw, as do creatures that are engaged in an evil act at the time the possession attempt occurs which can stack (at the DM's discretion). The possessing fiend gets a bonus on attempts to possess creatures that carry, hold, or wear an item they are currently possessing. For each day the possessed item was worn, held, or carried by the target prior to the possession attempt, the DC for the target’s Will save increases by +1, up to a maximum of +10. If the saving throw is successful, that creature is immune to that fiend's possession attempts for one day. If the saving throw is failed, the creature is possessed, through it is not necessarily aware of this fact.
A fiend possessing a creature takes up residency inside of the victim much like a parasite, so it is no longer ethereal. It cannot be targeted by spells or attacks separately from the victim, including attacks from ethereal creatures. Damage taken by the possessed creature has no effect on the fiend. If the victim dies, the fiend is forced back into its ethereal form. Only one fiend of possession or other creatures with the possession ability can possess a target at a time. If another tries to possess an already possessed target the two possessing forces make a check similar to an Ego check (DC= HD+Cha or ECL+Cha mod vs opposing total). If the already possessing force wins they get to stay in possession, if the opposing fiend to possess wins they wrestle control away and possesses the target forcing the old possessor back into ethereal form.
The fiend can sense anything the victim can, even including the benefits of blind sight or other exceptional senses the victim may have. At any time, the fiend of possession can communicate with the victim telepathically, projecting words in any language the victim understands directly into the victim's thoughts. The fiend is constantly aware of the victim's thoughts. It can also choose to probe the creature's memories as well, but the victim is allowed a Will save. If this saving throw is successful, the fiend cannot probe that creature's thoughts for one day.
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I found it interesting that the original had some rules for possessing an evil creature doing an evil act, while BoVD had a section for if the creature has been carrying an item you have possessed. So of course I had to add that in there somewhere.
Also decided that there needed to be rules for when more then one fiend of possession decides that tarrasque’s body looks like a nice car to take a ride in, that they need to fight over it Grand Theft Auto style similar to the Intelligent Item Ego check. This of course also gets rid of the confusion on whether Dvati twins can possess one body and make it stronger/better with the Ally and Enemy ability x2.
Ally or Enemy (Su):
At 5th level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to reward or punish a creature it is possessing. If the possessed creature is aware of the fiend's presence and willing to house the fiend, the fiend can bestow a +4 profane bonus on any of the creature's ability scores. This bonus lasts as long as the fiend wants it to. The fiend can retract it as a free action at any time, particularly if the possessed creature starts acting contrary to the fiend's wishes.
Similarly, a fiend of possession can bestow a -4 profane penalty on any of the possessed creature's ability scores, usually when attempts to control the creature have failed or the creature contradicts the fiend's wishes. As with the bonus, the fiend can remove this penalty at any time, as a free action.
Bestowing either a bonus or a penalty is a free action for the possessing fiend.
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Nothing to change here, the ability isn’t too broken now that only one fiend can possess a body at a time.
Possess Noncontinuous Object (Su):
At 5th level, a fiend can also possess a substance that has no fixed shape (such as a pool of water or a dust cloud) or is part of a larger object (such as a section of a wall). When it does so, a fiend cannot possess an area or a volume larger than 10ft square per class level.
Some fiends possess an item such as a stepping stone for a possession attempt on a character, or place curses for unfortunate passer-bys. At this level, a fiend of possession can also possess (and animate) Colossal objects.
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The possessing of items with no fixed shape wasn’t very well detailed in Fiend Folio, and was only somewhat touched up on in BoVD. Not exactly sure if I scaled this right by making it a 10ft square per class level, but 5ft didn’t seem like enough. Suggestions would be appreciative.
Control Creature (Su):
At 6th level, a fiend of possession gains the ability to exert direct control over a creature it is possessing. Attempting to establish control is a standard action for the fiend. The victim must make a Will saving throw each round until the fiend abandons the attempt, or the victim fails a saving throw and the fiend gains control, or the victim makes three consecutive successful saves, indicating that the fiend cannot control the victim that day (though it remains in possession of the victim). Each round of struggle, the victim can take only a single move or attack action. Once the fiend gains control, it automatically maintains it for a number of rounds equal to its class level + Cha modifier, +1 for each previous occasion on which it has controlled this host. The only exception to this duration is when the fiend animates objects, in which case it can control it for the entire duration of the animate objects spell or the before mentioned duration, whichever is longer. When this time elapses, the fiend can attempt to reassert control, reanimate or not, as it chooses.
While in control of a victim, the fiend of possession has access to all the creature's abilities, skills, feats, and spell knowledge, being able to cast both from the victim’s prepared spell list and your own but your only able to cast the victim’s spells if you meet the minimum casting stat requirement. The fiend now acts as though it is the creature in all respects, until it loses or relinquishes control. The fiend uses its own Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores for actions such as casting spells and their effects, but adopts all of the possessed creature's physical ability scores. It can make use of its own spell-like abilities as well, assuming the victim’s body allows it, such as a fiend with a spell-like ability that depends on his original body to use it wouldn’t be able to use such spell-like abilities while in a victim’s body that doesn’t have such a body. The fiend retains the creature's type, and is affected by spells and other effects as if it were the possessed creature except in regard to its alignment. For instance, a cornugon possessing the body of a wolf is subject to spells that affect animals, even though it is far more intelligent than a normal wolf. A balor possessing the body of a paladin is not subject to unholy blight, however, but is fully affected by holy smite and gains a negative level due to the paladin wielding a Holy sword. A imp possessing a animated table is not subject to spells that don’t affect objects, but is subject to spells like shatter that does affect objects.
The fiend can choose whether the possessed creature retains awareness of its body's senses and actions, in which case it can mentally communicate with the fiend, or simply blacks out for the duration of the control.
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Decided to throw in a clause for Controlling objects you animated like a Gundam pilot since the original version would need you to animate then try to overcome it just to pilot it when it couldn’t just a second ago.
Clarified that the fiend is capable of using the host’s spells along with their own, but only if they have the stats to do so. So a fiend with a high Cha but dumps Wis won’t be able to cast as many or as strong of spells while possessing a Cleric, but will still have his own to rely on. Edited the sentence with the balor possessing a paladin’s body because I wanted to clarify that possessing bodies with weapons or other items that give ‘virtual’ negative levels still give you negative levels despite possessing a body that wouldn’t be affected. Threw in a example of a fiend possessing an item and getting hit by a spell that affects items verses gaining immunity to abilities that don’t affect items to further the example benefits and penalties of possessing something that isn’t your own body.
Ending Possession:
Spells such as dismissal and banishment are among the only effects that can target a fiend of possession separately from the object or creature it inhabits. When these spells are directed against a fiend of possession, the spell effect is resolved as if the fiend were in its normal, corporeal form, using its own Hit Dice, saving throws, ability scores, and so on. If successful, these spells drive the fiend out of the victim and back to its home plane. Holy word and similar spells can also drive out a possessing fiend and send it back to its home plane, but a fiend can hide its presence to escape the effects of such spells. Certain other special abilities (such as the Exorcism granted power of the Sacred Exorcist prestige class described in Complete Divine) can force a fiend of possession out of a victim and back into its ethereal form.
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Not much to add here besides updating the original’s sentence describing the obsolete Exorcism domain found in Defenders of Faith.
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Author's Notes:
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As stated earlier, I really liked this PrC, but with its lack of PC friendly entries it was really more of a DMPrC. So setting off for the scant threads on the class, I took notes on things others thought could of been done better, along with throwing in some of my own stuff like the Curse upgrade.
Out of all the things I edited, I feel that at least the prerequisites, the new Curse ability and or the spellcasting progression will be the things that will initially be either frowned upon or smiled upon. Critique on these two areas are especially welcomed. As for the rest of my edits, I tried to change alot of things by upgrading through mentions of mechanics that simply didn't exist or weren't thought of at the printing of the original. Such as the Mindsight feat, or the 'phantom' progression of this class through means such as racial Paragon or other PrCs.
With that said, I hope that every one likes it, and wish everyone that they continue rolling natural 20's.
Changes/Edits
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2-15-12: Spoiler-ed Image to reduce scrolling side to side.
2-16-12: Edited Control Object to remove censored 'C' word.
3-1-12: Added in Variant uses of Bestow Curse and Bestow Greater Curse.
